It is official, John Smoltz has cleared waivers. This gives the Red Sox until Sunday to either trade, release or send him to the minors.
Archive for the 'John Smoltz' Category
In 2006 the Atlanta Braves selected Cory Rasmus with their first round pick. Fast forward through some rough years that included almost a full season lost to shoulder surgery, and you have a guy listed as a reliever headed into the year by Baseball America, and unranked on the prospect chart. Well, last night Cory, brother of current St. Louis Cardinal Colby Rasmus, tossed his first career no-no. Now we will have to keep our eye on this kid, as last year a no-no turned a lot of heads, including mine, and now some guy named Tommy Hanson is dominating the NL.
In case you missed it, John Smoltz was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox. Damn. Even thought he marriage saw a rocky breakup in the end, Smoltz has always been one of my personal favorites, and I wished him the best in Beantown. With this move, and Tom Glavine not pitching for anyone this season, it looks like Atlanta GM Frank Wren deserves some credit for knowing when to say when.
Despite being only 4.5 games back in the division, and 3 games back in the Wildcard, the Braves are getting no love and seem to be flying under the radar. Here at The Sports Idiot we have told you not to overlook the Bravos before, and perhaps it is time to do so again. Do not look now, but the Braves are suddenly 59 – 54 on the season, and riding a 4 game winning streak.
Like the Phillies did this week, the Braves will have to make a rotation decision before too long, as Tim Hudson will be making his next rehab start on Thursday.
John Smoltz will make his debut for the Boston Red Sox tonight against the Nationals in Washington, D.C. Get him in your lineup, because there is no reason to believe that he will have trouble with the Nationals.
Go here to read a nice piece by MLB.com’s Ian Browne about Smoltzie.
The much anticipated debut of John Smoltz in a Red Sox uniform will come next Thursday, June 25th, in Washington, DC against the Nationals. Of course, that is provided nothing goes drastically wrong during his final rehab start today in Pawtucket. To make room for Smoltz, the Red Sox will be jettisioning, well, we do not know who they will be demoting from the Bigs to make room for him. Terry Francona, the Red Sox manager, says that if they need to use a six man rotation then they certanly will. Problem is, the Major League roster is only 25 men deep, so someone is going to have to disappear for Smoltz to get the nod.
The speculation has been that Brad Penny will be traded to make room for Smoltz, and with some recent developments across baseball (Jake Peavy’s injury, Astros playing too well to move Roy Oswalt to name a few) Penny might just be the best pitcher on the market right now. Either way, Smoltz will get to make his first start against the worst team in the entire Major Leagues, and should be able to rack up some strikeouts on his way to a solid outing. Those of us who have had him stashed away should not hesitate to activate and start Smoltz from the get-go.
Hopefully you did not draft John Smoltz this year in your fantasy league. You were probably like me, and picked him up to stash in one of your Prior List slots. So now you are beginning to wonder if you have been wasting that spot for a good reason (okay, it is not really wasting it, especially if you have not needed it yet), and when the Great One will be taking the hill for you. We will soon begin to get those answers, as Smoltz threw three rehab innings yesterday in Augusta, GA.
In those three innings of work, Smoltz have up one hit while striking out two for A Greenville. As far as we can tell, he is on track for a June return, it is just unclear how early in June that return will be. The upside with Smoltz crushes any risk in stashing him for a few months, so continue to be patient. The good news is now that he is actually on the hill pitching, we should start to get some good, solid information on when to expect him back in the Majors. With the Braves scheduled to visit Fenway for a three game set beginning on June 19th, you can trust that Smoltz will do all in his power to be ready for that series.
John Smoltz’ Boston Red Sox squared off against the Braves yesterday. Smoltz, who spent the afternoon golfing with Tiger, stopped by the Braves’ clubhouse to visit. As expected, there were no fireworks and Smoltz was welcomed by his old teammates with open arms.
It is being reported that John Smoltz is going to sign with the Boston Red Sox, and that he will be calling the Atlanta Braves this morning to let them know about his decision. Since my time is limited, I’ll just throw up a few links and come back with my thoughts later, after the dust settles.
For a candid debate on anything Atlanta Braves related, go to TalkingChop.com.
For up to the minute MLB rumors and trade updates, MLBTradeRumors.com is the best place to go. Tim Dierkes doesn’t know who we are, but dude is the best.
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